The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 provided for each county to elect one senator for a four-year term. The election of senators was staggered so that half of the state Senate was elected every two years. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1964 for the case Reynolds v. Sims, the state Senate was reapportioned in 1966 as a temporary measure into 27 districts with 50 members for two-year terms. In 1967, the state Senate was again reapportioned, this time into 20 districts with 46 members for four-year terms. The number of districts was reduced to 16 in 1972 and in 1984, they were eliminated with the creation of single member districts.
The annual session of the General Assembly convenes at the State Capitol Building in Columbia on the second Tuesday of January of each year. However, after convening, either the House or the Senate may call for itself a 30-day recess by a majority vote, or a longer recess by a two-thirds vote.[1]
^ abAfter the 2000 elections, the Senate was evenly split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans. A Democrat, J. Verne Smith of Greer, switched to the Republicans to break the tie.
^Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election.
^One independent, Mia McLeod, was formerly a member of the Democratic Party until January 10, 2023.
ReferencesEdit
^. 2010 South Carolina Constitution – Unannotated. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
^McLeod, Mia. "New Year, New Direction!". miaforsenate. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
^"South Carolina Election Results". New York Times. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
Dubin, Michael J. (2007) Party affiliations in the state legislatures : a year by year summary, 1796–2006.
External linksEdit
South Carolina Legislative Information Tracking System allows users to track legislative information via custom reports, tracking lists or subscription services. Services are provided via web search or Palm Pilot.
The South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus
The South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus
Project Vote Smart – State Senate of South Carolina
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The South Carolina Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four year terms at the same time as United States presidential elections South Carolina State SenateSouth Carolina General AssemblySeal of the South Carolina SenateTypeTypeUpper HouseTerm limitsNoneHistoryNew session startedJanuary 10 2023LeadershipPresidentThomas C Alexander R since December 6 2021Majority LeaderA Shane Massey R since April 6 2016Minority LeaderBrad Hutto D since November 17 2020ClerkJeffrey S Gossett since January 9 2001Assistant ClerkKenneth M Moffitt since September 2 2014Reading ClerkJohn O Wienges since January 11 1994Sergeant at Arms Chuck D Williams Jr since December 6 2016StructureSeats46Political groupsMajority Republican 30 Minority Democratic 13 Independent 1 Vacant 2 Length of term4 yearsAuthorityArticle III South Carolina ConstitutionSalary 10 400 year per diemElectionsLast electionNovember 3 2020 46 seats Next electionNovember 5 2024 46 seats RedistrictingLegislative ControlMeeting placeState Senate ChamberSouth Carolina State HouseColumbia South CarolinaWebsiteSouth Carolina State SenateA diagram of the Senate Chamber 1917The South Carolina Constitution of 1895 provided for each county to elect one senator for a four year term The election of senators was staggered so that half of the state Senate was elected every two years After the U S Supreme Court ruled in 1964 for the case Reynolds v Sims the state Senate was reapportioned in 1966 as a temporary measure into 27 districts with 50 members for two year terms In 1967 the state Senate was again reapportioned this time into 20 districts with 46 members for four year terms The number of districts was reduced to 16 in 1972 and in 1984 they were eliminated with the creation of single member districts The annual session of the General Assembly convenes at the State Capitol Building in Columbia on the second Tuesday of January of each year However after convening either the House or the Senate may call for itself a 30 day recess by a majority vote or a longer recess by a two thirds vote 1 Contents 1 Composition 1 1 Members of the South Carolina Senate 2 Composition of the Senate over time 3 References 4 External linksComposition EditAffiliation Party Shading indicates majority caucus TotalRepublican Democratic Independent VacantStart of 2023 Session 30 15 1 46 0Current 30 13 1 44 2Members of the South Carolina Senate Edit Except as noted all senators were elected in November 2020 and terms began on January 12 2021 All terms expire in January 2025 District Representative Party Residence1 Thomas C Alexander president Republican Walhalla2 Rex Rice Republican Easley3 Richard Cash Republican Powdersville4 Michael Gambrell Republican Honea Path5 Thomas D Corbin Republican Travelers Rest6 Dwight Loftis Republican Greenville7 Karl B Allen Democratic Greenville8 Ross Turner Republican Greenville9 Danny Verdin Republican Laurens10 Billy Garrett Republican Greenwood11 Josh Kimbrell Republican Inman12 Scott Talley Republican Spartanburg13 Shane Martin Republican Spartanburg14 Harvey S Peeler Jr Republican Gaffney15 Wes Climer Republican Rock Hill16 Michael Johnson Republican Tega Cay17 Mike Fanning Democratic Great Falls18 Ronnie Cromer Republican Prosperity19 Vacant a 20 Dick Harpootlian Democratic Columbia21 Darrell Jackson Democratic Hopkins22 Mia McLeod Independent 2 Columbia23 Katrina Shealy Republican Lexington24 Tom Young Jr Republican Aiken25 A Shane Massey Republican Edgefield26 Nikki G Setzler Democratic West Columbia27 Penry Gustafson Republican Camden28 Greg Hembree Republican North Myrtle Beach29 Gerald Malloy Democratic Hartsville30 Kent M Williams Democratic Marion31 Mike Reichenbach Republican Florence32 Ronnie A Sabb Democratic Greeleyville33 Luke A Rankin Republican Myrtle Beach34 Stephen Goldfinch Republican Murrells Inlet35 Thomas McElveen Democratic Sumter36 Kevin L Johnson Democratic Manning37 Larry Grooms Republican Bonneau38 Sean Bennett Republican Summerville39 Vernon Stephens Democratic Bowman40 Brad Hutto Democratic Orangeburg41 Sandy Senn Republican Charleston42 Vacant b 43 Chip Campsen Republican Isle of Palms44 Brian Adams Republican Goose Creek45 Margie Bright Matthews Democratic Charleston46 Tom Davis Republican BeaufortComposition of the Senate over time EditMain article Political party strength in South Carolina Year DemocraticParty RepublicanParty Independent Other Majority1865 0 0 31 311868 6 c 25 0 191870 5 26 1 211872 8 25 0 171874 0 26 7 d 191876 15 18 0 31878 28 5 0 231880 33 2 0 311882 33 2 0 311884 32 3 0 291886 33 2 0 311888 35 0 0 351890 32 3 0 291892 36 0 0 361894 29 0 7 e 221896 36 0 0 361898 1908 41 0 0 411910 1916 44 0 0 441918 1964 46 0 0 461966 43 6 1 371968 47 3 0 441970 44 2 0 421972 43 3 0 401976 42 4 0 381980 39 7 0 321984 36 10 0 261988 35 11 0 241992 30 16 0 141996 25 21 0 42000 22 f 24 f 0 22004 20 26 g 0 62008 19 27 0 82012 18 28 0 102016 18 28 0 102020 3 15 h 30 0 14 John L Scott Jr died on August 13 2023 Marlon Kimpson resigned on May 11 2023 The election of a Democrat from Abbeville was declared void and the seat remained vacant All 7 were members of the Conservative Party of South Carolina All 7 were Independent Democrats a b After the 2000 elections the Senate was evenly split between 23 Democrats and 23 Republicans A Democrat J Verne Smith of Greer switched to the Republicans to break the tie Republicans gained an additional seat in a 2007 special election One independent Mia McLeod was formerly a member of the Democratic Party until January 10 2023 References Edit ARTICLE 3 Legislative Department SECTION 9 Sessions of General Assembly 2010 South Carolina Constitution Unannotated Archived from the original on March 4 2012 Retrieved January 16 2012 McLeod Mia New Year New Direction miaforsenate Retrieved 10 January 2023 South Carolina Election Results New York Times 4 November 2020 Retrieved 4 November 2020 Dubin Michael J 2007 Party affiliations in the state legislatures a year by year summary 1796 2006 External links EditSouth Carolina State House Online South Carolina Legislative Information Tracking System allows users to track legislative information via custom reports tracking lists or subscription services Services are provided via web search or Palm Pilot The South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus The South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus Project Vote Smart State Senate of South Carolina 33 50 10 N 81 09 49 W 33 836081 N 81 1637245 W 33 836081 81 1637245 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title South Carolina Senate amp oldid 1177038788, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
